Margaret K. Rhoda

Margaret Rhoda advises publicly held and private companies in federal securities compliance and corporate governance matters.

Her experience includes counseling public companies with respect to regulatory requirements, including the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and NYSE and Nasdaq rules, as well as corporate governance best practices. Margaret distills detailed legal research on sensitive issues into practical advice for her public and private company clients. In addition, she drafts disclosure documents for public companies and transactional documents for capital raising, including registration statements and private placement memoranda.

Margaret also regularly advises start-up and microcap companies regarding compliance with federal and state securities laws in connection with private offerings.

Before joining Harter Secrest & Emery, Margaret practiced as a corporate associate in the real estate capital markets group at Proskauer Rose LLP in Chicago, IL, with a particular focus on Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and mergers and acquisitions.

HONORS & AWARDS

• Selected to the Upstate New York Super Lawyers Rising Stars list, 2021
• Proskauer’s Golden Gavel Award for Pro Bono Service
• DePaul University College of Law
  • Associate Editor, DePaul Law Review, Volume 64
  • Order of the Coif

REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE

• Initial public offering on Nasdaq of foreign contract garment manufacturer
• Managed proxy solicitation and annual meeting process for newly public company
• Modernized proxy statement disclosure for Nasdaq-listed company to better reflect its market position and growing business
• Issuer counsel for at-the-market offering of up to $40 million of common stock
• Placement agent counsel in registered direct offerings of $5 million and $4.3 million for growing alternative energy company
• Underwriter counsel in registered direct offering of $4.8 million and confidentially marketed public offering of $2.8 million for biotechnology security company
• Issuer and underwriter counsel in private placement offerings in a variety of industries, including biotechnology, food service, fintech, manufacturing, and software

NEWS

• Featured, “Real estate investment market may look different post-COVID-19,” Rochester Business Journal, April 17, 2020
• Featured, “Two U.S. REITs Merging in $1.4B Deal,” Law360, September 7, 2016 

Press Releases

• Harter Secrest & Emery Advises Edible Garden AG Incorporated on Initial Public Offering and Nasdaq Listing, May 10, 2022
• Harter Secrest & Emery Advises Maxim Group on $15 Million Offering and Uplisting of Generation Income Properties, Inc., September 9, 2021
• Harter Secrest & Emery Attorneys Named to 2021 Upstate New York Super Lawyers, Rising Stars Lists, August 20, 2021
• Harter Secrest & Emery Advises IEC Electronics Corp. in Signing of a Definitive Merger Agreement with Creation Technologies, August 13, 2021
• Harter Secrest & Emery Advises Maxim Group LLC on Upsized $14.4 Million Uplist Offering, June 3, 2021
• Harter Secrest & Emery Helps Maxim Group Close $8 Million Offering, April 14, 2021
• Harter Secrest & Emery Advises Maxim Group LLC on Upsized $9.6 Million Uplist Offering, February 25, 2021
• Harter Secrest & Emery Advises Financial Institutions on $35 Million Private Placement of Subordinated Notes, October 14, 2020
• Harter Secrest & Emery Helps Maxim Group Close $14.6 Million Offering, July 1, 2020

PUBLICATIONS

• Co-Author, “New Tools for Small Companies to Raise Capital,” Rochester Business Journal, November 12, 2019

• Co-Author, “A Few Tweets Cost Tesla CEO Elon Musk $20 Million and Chairmanship,” Legalcurrents^®, Harter Secrest & Emery LLP, October 15, 2018
• Co-Author, “SEC Amends Definition of Smaller Reporting Company and Expands Scaled Disclosure Eligibility,” LEGALcurrents^®, Harter Secrest & Emery LLP, July 23, 2018
• Co-Author, “Mind Your Ds and Os: Policy Language Proves Determinative in Director and Officer Insurance Coverage,” Proskauer: Risk and Recovery, August 15, 2014
• Co-Author, “Declining Vitality of the Audit Interference Rule: A 50 State Survey of Auditor Liability,” DRI: FOR THE DEFENSE, February 201A